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An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist reports
that a newly study commissioned by the Government of Canada, which
includes some of
the most extensive surveying to date of the Canadian population on
music purchasing habits, finds what many have long suspected — there is a positive correlation between
peer-to-peer downloading and CD purchasing. The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P
File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study For Industry Canada
was conducted collaboratively by two professors from the University of
London, Industry Canada, and Decima Research, who surveyed over 2,000
Canadians on their music downloading and purchasing habits."

It seems obvious music lovers both download more and buy more music than those who don't listen or like it much. Probably a more interesting study would be comparing equally avid fans (although how could you make a stab at quantifying this?), one of whom had access to online downloads while the other did not... and I wouldn't be surprised if the one with online download capability bought more because he was exposed to more.

But of course it wouldn't matter what any such study would show... the labels won'

If you create a forum, enthusiasts and hobbyists will produce its own hype. The effect of the production or record company is to produce hype. This explains their initial fear; until they realize that when people are enthusiastic about their music, they tend to talk about how awesome a CD or Artist is, thus influencing others around him, creating a demand for desired album + extras. The Japanese know this, their dvds are cheep and come with every thing from teddy bears to incomplete seasons packed all toget